Warriors Notes: Porzingis, Curry, Injuries, Kuminga

The Warriors are the latest team to sign up for the Kristaps Porzingis experience, which has been tantalizing and frustrating during most of his NBA stops, writes Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area. Porzingis can be a difference maker on the court with his combination of size and talent, but his susceptibility to injuries creates uncertainty over how often he’ll be available.

He left Friday’s game at Detroit with back soreness and is unavailable for tonight’s contest in Atlanta. The Hawks traded him to Golden State last month after going through a mostly disappointing stretch with Porzingis, who was acquired from Boston last summer but was only healthy for 17 games before being shipped out.

The latest injury forced Porzingis to leave Friday’s game in the second quarter after taking a couple of hits from Pistons big man Paul Reed.

“I kind of started feeling it from the first quarter,” Porzingis told ESPN’s Anthony Slater (Twitter video link). “It started to spasm up a bit. I tried to move and … while I was warm, but at one point I kind of felt a little spasm.”

This is the fourth time in Porzingis’ career that he has been sidelined with back issues, according to Poole, who adds that team officials declined to speculate about how long he might be out. He has appeared in just seven of 18 games since the February 5 trade.

There’s more on the Warriors:

• A scrimmage Sunday morning in Atlanta will be the next step in Stephen Curry‘s comeback attempt, coach Steve Kerr said (Twitter video link from Slater). “I think tomorrow’s probably the big day, and we’ll know more at that point,” Kerr added. Curry, who has been sidelined since January 30 with runner’s knee, will be reevaluated on Tuesday when the team returns home from its road trip.
• Golden State had six players out and five others listed as questionable on its injury report for tonight’s game, per Kevin Chouinard of Hawks.com (Twitter link). Among the questionable list, Draymond Green, De’Anthony Melton and Malevy Leons have been cleared to play, according to Nick Friedell of The Athletic (Twitter link).
• In a pre-game session with the media, Hawks coach Quin Snyder shared his advice for Jonathan Kuminga as he prepares for his first meeting with the Warriors since being sent to Atlanta in the Porzingis deal, relays Tristi Rodriguez of NBC Sports Bay Area. “Players get traded in this league. You can’t make it about you, and I don’t think he is,” Snyder said. “I think more than anything, he’s looking forward to being on the court, regardless of who the opponent is. The plan is for him to keep doing what he’s doing, no matter who we’re playing. He’s done that. Whether that means six shots or 13, or however many. It’s really not been about his offense. He’s given us a lift defensively and I think his energy has been really good. He’s been a boost for our team when he’s been able to play. And hopefully that’s what we’ll see tonight.”